The Civil Sphere of Love Island: Codes, Discourse, and Relationships
This clip is from season 4 of Love Island (UK). This scene shows Georgia talking with Josh, a man that she was formerly coupled up with until he came back from Casa Amor with another woman. In this emotional clip, Georgia is expressing to Josh that she was loyal and stuck by him while he was at Casa Amor. He expresses to her how they said to each other that they would be open and honest, but that he didn’t have the opportunity to. She then dismisses it by saying it is fine, but with the music playing in the background of this intense scene and the look on Georgia’s face, we know it is not fine. He says to her that he did this because of a gut feeling, a decision dictated by his emotions.
This video of Georgia and Josh’s conversation reminded me of the concepts mentioned in Jeffery Alexander’s The Civil Sphere. He talks about this phenomenon of a “civil sphere.” He defines it as a subset of a society disconnected from political, economic, familial, and religious life (Alexander 2006: 53). He then dives deeper. He tells us that civil society is not only an institutional realm but a realm of organized, socially established thought, a web of understandings producing structures of feelings that are deeply embedded into our social lives (Alexander 2006: 54). Every civil society produces their own set of binary codes that build upon one another. These binary codes create the categories of pure and impure, which each person in society is meant to fit into. People then draw on these codes to make judgments of who is worthy or who is meant to be excluded in civil society. It is important to note that though this symbolic structure of categories is a part of every society, it looks different in different places.
Furthermore, these structures are also seen in the binary discourse which occurs at three levels: motives, relationships, and institutions (Alexander 2006: 57-59). The three discourses are highly interconnected. For example, if a person’s motivational factors were rational, reasonable, or realistic, one would also be able to create open, honest, trusting relationships. If motivational actors are irrational, mad, or wild-passionate, they would also be secretive, deceitful, or calculating. These discourses and sets of codes that are deeply embedded into one society can sit in conversation with the codes and discourses of other spheres.
The contestants on Love Island (UK) arguably live within their civil sphere, disconnected from other forms of life. The internal logic that exists within the community structured within Love Island sits in conversation with the codes and discourses of other civil societies. Building off of the binary discourse of civil relationships, there is an established discourse of intimate relationships on the show. We see this through the language used in the scene by both Georgia and Josh. Georgia mentions how she stayed loyal and Josh talks about their relationship being open and honest. When mentioning qualities of honesty and openness, they are directly drawing from the binary structures of civil relationships. It is the fact that Georgia mentions this characteristic of loyalty that makes the binary discourse of intimate relationships separate from those of civil. When Josh says he “went with his gut,” he draws on the codes of anticivil motives. This is because going with your gut implies a level of emotionality, which is inherently an irrational quality. By saying this and previously talking about openness and honesty, one can see how these discourses are deeply connected. Lastly, when Georgia says how she had stuck by Josh, she is drawing on the qualities of rule regulation and groups that make up civil institutions. She brings forth a new discourse about a commitment between two people that exists with the other levels of binary discourse in Love Island UK. The conversation that occurs between Georgia and Josh about their intimate relationship is broadcast all around the world for viewers to not only watch but also obtain an understanding of the codes that allow us to make judgments about what is right/wrong, pure/impure, and sacred/profane. Though "reality" TV, the relationships on this show are fictional. However, these fictional relationships draw upon the codes of other civil societies and apply them to their own civil sphere. Viewers take the codes embedded in Love Island (UK) about relationships and integrate them into their civil spheres.
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